Treeing machine



Feb. 9, 1932. J. w. LONEY 1,843,984

TREElNG MACHINE Filed Jah. 1o, 1929 'lll/IILA i Patented Feb. 9, 1932narran STATESl tenses Partnr denies JOHN W. LONnY, Or BROCKTON,MASSACHUSETTS, AssIcfNon` TOOL A. lMILLNR mann-ING Y MACHINE COMPANY, orrOnIfLANn, MAINE, A CORPORATION or MAINE Y'I'Itnn ING` MACHINEApplication filed January 10,1929. SeraI'No. 331,440.

This invention relates to machines Jfor treeing bootsor shoes and isherein illustrated as embodied in a treeingv machine 'of the typedisclosed in Letters latent oli' the United States No. 1,268,837,granted June 11, 1918, upon application of J. S. Hansen. A

Treeing machines of this character are commonly provided with aplurality of expansible tree legs, either a pair as is common inso-called hand treeing machines Or tWo pairs as is common inpovvertreeingmachines suchY as that villustrated 'in the above-mentionedLetters Patent.l These. tree legsA are secured to a rotatable turret sothatany qone of 'the tree legs may be brought into operal tive position.Each tree leg carries artree@ foot adapted to'beinsertedin a shoe, andmeans is provided for operating expanding mechanism to cause the treetoot and leg to fill completely the4 interior Vof the shoe and tostretch the leather tightly. For various reasons, such as simplicity,adaptability and sensitiveness, it is found desirable to provide anindividually hand-,operated device in connection with each tree leg bymeans of Which the operator can expand each leg after the shoe has beenapplied toit. One very successful arrangement is illustrated in theabove-mentioned LettersPatent lin Which a pivoted operating lever isdirectly connected to` the expanding-`mechanism and Aris associated witha hand-operated lever `Whichhas a nose` AWhich presses against a `camsurface on the Operating lever andsivings that lever to expand thetreeand then loclsitY in-a Vpredetermined position to hold the tree inexpanded condition. L An object of the .present inventionis to providean improved treeing machine' having operating means `for the treeexpanding mech,-

anism Which Will apply pressure variably suited to differentcharacteristics of the shoes to be treated, thus better adapting themachine for operating on both light Weight shoes ,and heavy Weightshoes, for example, and Which will nevertheless be still easier tooperate. Y p l l To this end, one ot thD features of theinventionresides in a novel automatic locking device,l associated With theVoperator-controlled means for the tree expanding mechal nism, Which isconstructed and arranged to hold said means in any one of a pluralityofpositions. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the lockingdevice is of the cam type which jams in any one of an infinite number ofpositions in Which it maybe put whereby the tree expanding mechanism maybe held under just the desired tension to cause the stretching actionapplied to the shoe to betreated to be suited to the character of theshoe upper Vof the shoe., At the same time, the operation of ythemachine is facilitated since it is only 'necessary for the operator tomove a manually operable member, illustrated as a hand lever, vjust farenough to cause the expanding vmechanism to apply the requisite pressureto the given' shoe.

The invention Will noiv be describedvvith reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in

which Y v Fig. 1 is a plan view ofalfragment of a turret'for a pluralityof tree legs; v

Fig. 2 is a ydetail in vertical section through the pivots of therespective levers; lig. 8 is a Vplan view on a reduced scale;

Fig.v lis a fragmentary elevation. ln the drawings, ment of a turret 10pivoted viior rotation around a fixed .upright rod 12Y and carrying athere is shown a tragplurality'oi'tree legs 14. vThese legsmay be of anysuitableconstruction but are preferably oi' the type known as a Millertreeand shown in Letters Patent of the United States No. 319,356,granted June 2, 1885 upon the` application ofA. D. Tyler, J r. Each ofthese tree legs is equipped With a suitable treefoot adapted to supporta boot or shoe and is arranged to be expanded to stretchthe shoe bymoving an expanding rod 16 having a head 18 longitudinally of the treetoward the axis of the turret. For yconvenience in handling .the shoeand in performing the various cleaning and treeing operations, each treeleg is rotatably mounted on the turret :tor movement around thelongitudinal axis of the leg and is held in oneposition by means of alatch 20 engaging a pin 22 on the leg, said latch vbeing' released inone position ofthe turret by means of a cam 24 mounted on a bracket 26secured to the upright rod 12.

Inasmuch as the parts associated with each tree leg are identical, onlyone set of parts will be described. In order to move the expanding rod16 radially of the turret to stretch a shoe, there is provided anoperating lever 3() pivotally mounted on the turret by means of a pivotstu-d 32 and forked at its free end at 34 (Fig. 2) tor engagement over'the expanding rod 16 back of the head 18 externally of the tree leg.rlhis operating lever is swung around its pivot to expand a tree by ano-perator-controlled lever 40, illustrated as a hand lever, which has ashort inner end provided with a cam roll 42 adapted to bear against acam surface formed upon a hardened steel insert 43 in the operatinglever 30. This cam surface is so shaped that the eiiort required toexpand the tree leg is greatly reduced and wear upon the parts ispractically eliminated by the use of the lroll 42 and the hardenedinsert 43. The hand lever 40 is pivoted upon the reduced upper end 46 ofa stud 44, extending through a boss 48 formedv in the turret, and thestud is provided with a retaining collar 50 at its lower end.

After the tree leg has been expanded it is desired to lock the levers,and hence the tree, in any desired position, and to this end cooperatingeccentric smooth-suriaced disks 52 and 54 are provided which are mountedat the upper ends ofy the respective studs 82 and 44. The locking disk52 is held loosely in position just above the operating lever 30 by thehead of the stud 32 which passes downward through a boss 56 on theturret and is held in position by a collar 58. On the other hand, thedisk 54 is secured to the hand lever 40 both by means of a nut 60 at theupper end of the reduced portion 46 of the stud 44 and also by a pin 62.Since each of the disks 52 and 54 are ecce'ntrically mounted upon theiraxes it is possible to lock the hand lever in active position, as shownat the left of Fig.V 1, with the tree leg expanded, by moving thelocking disk 52 to the desired position with respectto the disk 54 so asto cause a frictional engagement between said disks such that anytendency for the hand lever 40 to be moved back to its original positionwill be immediately counteracted by jamming ot the disks between thestuds upon which they are carried. The construction is such that thisjamming may take place in any one of an infinite number of positions andmakes it possible, accordingly, to lock the hand lever and hence alsothe operating lever 30 in any position to which it is moved by theoperator. A spring 64 extends between a hook 66 on the disk 54 and ahook 68 on the disk 52, this spring tending to draw the loose disk 52into locking position. lVhen it is desired to release the hand lever soas to contract the tree under the iniluence of a spring. (not shown)which is contained within the tree leg, it is possible to rotate thelocking disk 52 by means of a handle made integral with the disk. As inthe patented machine, the hand lever 4() is also provided with a spur 72 adapted positively to engage a shoulder on the insert 34 on theoperating lever 30 to limit the movement of the lever 40 to its releasedposition.

lt will be understood that the usual construction o'f such machinesprovides the turret alternately with rightand left-hand tree legs asindicated in one instance by the letter R shown in 1 upon the latch 20.As-

sumino' then that the o erator has ap )lied D A a right-hand shoe to thetree leg at the front of the machine as viewed in Fig. 1. he will movethe hand lever 40 toward him and in so doing will displace the operatinglever 30 to draw back the expanding rod 16, therebv to expand the treeleg and stretch the shoe. The desirability of controlling the amount ofstretching action so as to differentiate between the force applied, forexample, to light kid shoes and that applied to heavy Cordovan shoes,will be self-evident. The improved conStruct-ion herein illustratedallows the operator to apply just the desired amount of force completelyto expand the tree leg within the shoe without unnecessary eiiort orwithout undue stretching effect. Y Having reached the desired positionof the hand lever, that lever is immediately and automatically locked inposition by the loose locking disk 52 to hold the operating lever 40against the resilience of the work and the tension of the tree legspring (not shown). The locking disk 52 is dragged along by the spring64 so that it follows up the disk 54 and is always in position to jamthat disk when the force applied by the operator to the lever 40 isdiscontinued. Just as soon as the operation is linished. however. and itis desired to release the tree leg so that it may be contracted by thespring within the tree leg, that release may be effected immediately,and with practically no effort at all, by pressing against the handle 70on the loose disk 52 so as to move it aside against the tension of thespring 64. The arrangement provided, therefore, is not only easy. tooperate but is automatic in its operation and capable ot holding thetree leg expanded in anv one oi' an inlinite number of positions. Itwill be noted that the arrangement described is simple and inexpensiveto manufacture and is one which may readily be applied to existingmachines without the necessity of replacing expensive parts.

Having thus described my invention, what I cla-im as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. In a machine fortreeing boots and shoes, an expansible tree leg, operating meansconnected to said tree leg, operator-controlled ffl means for movingsaid operating means, and locking means of the cam type including asubstantially smooth-surfaced member attached to the operator-controlledmeansand constructed and arranged automatically to hold said operatingmeans in any one of a plurality oi positions to keep the tree leg in itsexpanded condition.

2. In a machine Vfor treeing boots and shoes, an expansible tree leg, anoperating lever for expanding said tree leg, a manually operated leverfor moving said operating lever, pivots for said levers, andco-.operating locking means mounted on said pivots and associated Withsaid levers, said locking means being constructed and arranged to holdone of said levers locked in any one of a plurality o' positions. y

3. In a machine for treeing boots and shoes, an expansible tree leg, apivoted operating member directly connected to said tree leg, anoperator-controlled member associated with said operating memberconstructed and arranged to move it to a position for expanding the treeleg, and m ans for locking` one of said members in any one of aninfinite number of positions.

fl. In a machine for treeing boots and shoes, an expansible tree leg, anoperating lever, an operator-controlled lever therefor,`

and an interacting locking device, associated With each of said leversconstructed and arranged to lock both of said levers automatically inany one of an infinite number of positions.

5. In a machine for treeing boots aud shoes, an expansible tree leg, anoperating lever connected to saidftree leg, an operator-controlled leverarranged to bear against said operating lever to expand the tree leg,and continuously acting pivoted coacting locking'devices associated Withsaid levers and constructed and-arranged to lock one of said leversautomatically in any adjusted position.

6. In a machine for treeing boots land shoes, an expansible tree leg,parallel pivot studs, an operating lever pivoted on one-of said studsand constructed and arranged to expand said tree leg, anoperatorcontrolled lever pivotally mounted on said other stud andarranged to bear against said operating lever to move it, and eccentriclocking'disks carried by said studs and spring-pressed into lockingengagement, one of said disks being secured to the lever With Which itis associated.

7 In a machine for treeing boots and shoes, an expansible tree leg,parallel pivot studs, an operating lever pivoted on one of said studsand constructed and arranged to expand said tree leg, anoperator-controlled lever pivotally mounted on said other stud andarranged to bear against said operating lever to move it, eccentriclocking disks carriedv by said studs and spring-pressed into lockingengagement, one of said disks being secured to the lever with Which itis associated, and means upon the loose disk to rotate it into unlockedposition.

8. In va machine for treeing boots and shoes, a rotatable turret, anexpansible tree leg mounted on said turret and having a tree in any onelof its adjusted positions, one oit'v said disks being secured to thelever With which it is associated. Y

9. In a machine for treeing boots and shoes, a rotatable turret, anexpansible tree leg mounted on said turret and having a tree expandingrod movable radially of the turret, lco-operative operating andoperator-controlled levers pivoted side by side upon the turret, saidoperating lever being connected to said expanding rod and saidoperatorcontrolled lever being arranged to bear against the operatinglever to move it to cause the expansion of the tree leg, eccentricallymounted locking disks associated with said levers and spring-pressedinto locking engagement to hold one of the levers in any one of itsadjusted positions, one of said disks? i Y being secured to the leverWith Which it is associated, and a handle for moving the loose Y disk torelease the lever.

In testimony rWhereoi:l I have signed my name to this specification.

JOHN W. LONEY.

